Tue, January 3, 2012
Korea Open a Fresh Start for Shuttlers
Ami Afriatni & Sandy Pramuji | January 02, 2012
Bona Septano, left, and Mohammad Ahsan are two of just a handful of local shuttlers who would likely qualify for the 2012 Olympics. (AFP Photo)
With New Year’s celebrations at an end, shuttlers are gearing up for badminton’s Korea Open Super Series Premier event, which kicks off in Seoul today.
Indonesia’s badminton stars will be eager to put behind them the struggles of 2011, when the country’s top players managed to win just two of the 60 titles available in the top tournaments. Mixed doubles pair Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir won both titles, in India and Singapore.
Players will also be fighting for spots at the 2012 Olympics in London. Only singles players in the top 16 and doubles teams in the top eight of the Badminton World Federation’s rankings on May 3 will get to compete in London.
At the moment only a handful of the country’s players would qualify for the Games.
They are Simon Santoso and Taufik Hidayat in men’s singles, Bona Septano and Mohammad Ahsan in men’s doubles, Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari in women’s doubles and Tontowi and Liliyana in mixed doubles.
Since badminton became an Olympic sport in 1992, Indonesia has brought home at least one gold medal from each Games, a record the country is eager to protect in London.
“We are optimistic that we will perform well,” Bona told the Jakarta Globe on Monday. “We want to secure our ticket to London.”
The Korea Open, the first of 12 Super Series events, is badminton’s only $1 million tournament. Winners of the singles events go home with $75,000, and doubles winners receive $79,000.
Bona said the big prizes up for grabs offered extra motivation to perform well in Seoul.
Bona and Ahsan, who are ranked seventh in the world, will meet Naoki Kawamae and Shoji Sato of Japan in the first round on Wednesday.
Simon also has a first-round match against a Japanese shuttler, Kazushi Yamada, while Taufik, who ended a 13-month title drought by winning the Macau Open last month, will face England’s Rajiv Ouseph.
The No. 4 seeds
Tontowi and Liliyana will open their tournament against Michael Fuchs and Birgit Michels of Germany.
Greysia and Meiliana will be back in action after a three-month hiatus because of a shoulder injury suffered by Greysia. They will open against qualifiers.
The tournament starts with the qualifying rounds today, with Indonesia already having lost
Sony Dwi Kuncoro to injury.
“I don’t feel ready to play because I’m still not sure if I have fully recovered from my back injury,” said Sony, who had been scheduled to meet Hsueh Hsuan-yi of Taiwan. “But I’ll definitely play in Malaysia [on Jan. 10-15].”
Once the country’s top men’s singles player, back troubles have slowed Sony’s career. He is now ranked No. 67 in the world.
Indonesia’s top four women’s singles — Adriyanti Firdasari, Aprilia Yuswandari, Maria Febe Kusumastuti and Lindaweni Fanetri — start their campaigns in the qualifying rounds.
